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The retirement plan for Fresno County, Calif., employees appeared to be in a pickle when an actuarial firm determined that 5,200 former and current county employees who had been told they would be getting refunds found out they might have to pay extra money into the fund instead.

Two former executives at video game developer Take-Two Interactive Software have pleaded guilty to falsifying business records as part of a stock options backdating scheme.

In a major step toward an eventual convergence of accounting standards, the Securities and Exchange Commission put out a proposal to allow non-U.S. companies that list on U.S. exchanges to reconcile their financials using International Financial Reporting Standards, instead of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.The measure, according to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, is a movement to have all companies "speak the same language," while serving to attract more international companies to U.S. markets. Business leaders have complained that investors are bypassing the U.S. in favor of London and Hong Kong as a result of over-regulation and the costs of having to file in two sets of accounting rules.

The new discussion draft Form 990, dubbed "the biggest thing the Exempt Organizations Division at the IRS has done in the last quarter century," by division director Lois Lerner, could be both a boon and a burden for preparers.The Internal Revenue Service hopes that the form, already released for comment, will be ready for use for tax year 2008.

Have you heard the joke about the sales tax audit? No one has.There is nothing funny about a sales tax audit.

Summertime brings with it the "high season" for clients who are seriously considering purchasing vacation homes, or switching from one vacation home to another.The majority are looking to take advantage of certain tax breaks to help them carry the property. For others, tax savings are an added bonus to validate their decision. In either case, tax advisors often get a hurried call to explain the options.

At the request of Connecticut State Comptroller Nancy S. Wyman, the state's General Assembly has voted to allow the comptroller to set generally accepted accounting principles for the state, starting in 2009.Wyman, however, said that she has no intention of modifying GAAP, as set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, for external reporting.

The European reaction as to how a proposed standard on fair value needs to be revised in order to be suitable for International Financial Reporting Standards is starting to emerge as a more of a "back to basics" cry.Among other things, regulatory experts within the EU are requesting a more principles-based approach and shorter documents than the 12 pages on FAS 157 and the 20-plus pages of guidance. They also maintain that any debate on the subject should not begin with the assumption that fair value needs to be reflected on the balance sheet. Others have forwarded suggestions on clarifying the language of the standard.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled charges with four former finance executives of SmartForce related to the software company's overstatement of revenue and income.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that Chester Spatt, Chief Economist and Director of the Office of Economic Analysis (OEA), will leave the agency to return to academia at the end of July, according to an SEC press release.